Benefits of Fish Oil

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Fish oil capsules are widely available in the market these days. Most it contains
omega 3 such as DHA and EPA. Small fish are used to produce the fish oils and
omega 3 is a type of fatty acid that is in it. DHA and EPA are two types of Omega 3
thats found in marine animals such as fish. Many researches are being done on
benefits of fish oil.
Heart
Omega 3 is widely believed to have beneficial effects on heart. Heart attacks
normally happen in people with hardened blood vessels of the heart
(atherosclerosis). Blood cholesterol plays an important role in this hardening
process. Thus reducing blood cholesterol level should reduce the hardening process
of the blood vessels.
Omega 3 has some evidence to suggest it helps in reducing the blood cholesterol
level, especially triglyceride. Triglyceride is a type of cholesterol in our blood, LDL
and HDL being the other two. A group of scientists from University of Kansas did a
research on this issue. They looked at all the research done on this matter from
2005 to 2015. After looking at all the results, they concluded that omega 3 oil will
reduce the level triglyceride if taken 4 g per day.
Omega 3 also seems to have anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is also a
key role in hardening of blood vessels, so by reducing inflammation the hardening
process should be dampened.
Thus theoretically taking omega 3 fish oils should help protect the heart. But does
it? Cochrane reviewers who are experts in looking for the best evidence searched
researches that were done to prove benefits of fish oil in heart health. They
concluded that There is not enough evidence to say that people should
stop taking rich sources of omega 3 fats. Its not clear if omega 3 helps in
reducing heart attacks or deaths related to heart problems.
More high quality evidence is needed to strongly say omega 3 helps in
cardiovascular health.
1. Dry Eyes
Among those who are working on computers most of the time, dry eye is a very
common problem. Dry eye is caused by two important groups of diseases. Our tears
have two components; water and fat (lipid). One group of disease causing dry eyes
is due to tear glands not producing enough water component in the tears, and
another group is due to the glands not
producing enough fat component. The
diseases that are due to lack of fat
component in tears are called
evaporative dry eyes, and is the
commonest cause of dry eyes.

This research done by eye surgeons

from Ohio Medical Centre looked at 105
patients with evaporative dry eyes and
how they benefit from omega 3 oil.
After 12 weeks of supplementing
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patients with re-esterized omega 3, they saw
benefits in the patients dry eyes symptoms. But this research was done using re-
esterized omega 3 oil.

Omega 3 that is available commercially comes in two forms; as ester or

triglycerides. Ester forms are not so common everywhere with most brands use
triglyceride form of omega 3. So does the triglyceride form of Omega 3 helps in
reducing dry eyes symptoms as well?

According to a research done by Indian scientists, after taking 600mg of omega 3

oils (2 capsules per day of normal fish oil capsules), most patients had improvement
of their dry eyes problems. This research was done mainly on those who use
computers for more than 3 hours per day. They concluded that taking 2 capsules of
fish oil per day with a total of 600mg DHA and EPA will cause improvement in dry
eyes symptoms after 3 months.

Another group of scientists repeated this in contact lens wearers. They chose 496
contact lens wearers, and looked at how omega 3 containing fish oil supplement
twice a day helps in dry eye symptoms. After 6 months of supplement, patients
symptoms were under control, and lens wear comfort level also improved
significantly.
 2. Mental Health

Dementia is a problem that commonly affects elderly people. It is a disorder of

memory, behavior and functioning. There are many causes of dementia,
commonest being vascular dementia and Alzheimers dementia.

Omega 3 oil has been suggested to protect

people from dementia, especially
Alzheimers disease. Many researches
appear to support this fact, but the evidence
they offer isnt strong. Cochrane group of
researchers did two different study on this
matter. In one research, they concluded that
supplementation of omega 3 oil for patients
with Alzheimers disease do not improve
their mental function, nor reduce depression
in them. Another Cochrane review tried to
find if omega 3 can be used to prevent 3Pixabay
onset of dementia. They concluded that there is no evidence to say omega 3 helps
in prevention of dementia.

Natural food rich in Omega 3

Do we have to consume omega 3 capsules to get the benefit of it? No, there are
plenty natural sources of omega 3.

There are three main types of Omega 3.

ALA, EPA and DHA. Most fish oil capsules
contain EPA and DHA and many studies
that check the benefits of omega 3 focus
on these two types of fat.

EPA and DHA are animal source of

Omega 3, thus its rich in animals such
as fish. Anchovies, and Salmon have
some of the highest amount of omega 3
in them. Caviar also has high omega 3
content, especially EPA and DHA.
Steaming or cooking the fish does not seem to affect the level of omega 3.
For further reading

Heart and Omega 3

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4957330/
Cochrane Review on Fish Oil -
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003177.pub2/full
Dry eyes and omega 3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27442314
Difference between esterized omega 3 vs triglyceride
https://www.ascentahealth.com/omega-3-and-you/the-science/fish-oil-
triglycerides-vs-ethyl-esters-comparative-review-metabolism-absorption-
stability/
Dry Eyes among computer user
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25697893
Dry eyes among contact lens user
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25719253
Dementia and Omega 3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27063583
Dementia Prevention and Omega 3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22696350